CASE STUDIES

DEFINITION

the collection and presentation of detailed information about a particular participant or small group, frequently including the accounts of subjects themselves.

study looks intensely at an individual or small participant pool, drawing conclusions only about that participant or group and only in that specific context.

OVERVIEW

Case studies typically examine the interplay of all variables in order to provide as complete an understanding of an event or situation as possible. THICK DESCRIPTION: involves an in-depth

description of the entity being evaluated, the circumstances under which it is used, the characteristics of the people involved in it, and the nature of the community in which it is located

Case studies are the preferred strategy when how or why questions are asked.

OVERVIEW Case studies is the preferred method when

the researcher has little control over the events, and when there is a contemporary focus within a real life context

Case studies require a problem that seeks a holistic understanding of the event or situation in question using inductive logic--reasoning from specific to more general terms

Case studies are frequently discussed within the context of qualitative research and naturalistic inquiry

The goal of a case study is to offer new variables and questions for further research.

EDUCATIONAL APPLICATIONS

"students learn to identify actual problems, to recognize key players and their agendas, and to become aware of those aspects of the situation that contribute to the problem" (Merseth 1991)

students are encouraged to "generate their own analysis of the problems under consideration, to develop their own solutions, and to practically apply their own knowledge of theory to these problems" (Boyce 1993)

students also develop "the power to analyze and to master a tangled circumstance by identifying and delineating important factors; the ability to utilize ideas, to test them against facts, and to throw them into fresh combinations" (Merseth 1991).

EDUCATIONAL APPLICATIONS

Case discussions can also help students prepare for real-world problems, situations and crises by providing an approximation of various professional environments.

Students are given the opportunity to work out their own professional issues through the trials, tribulations, experiences, and research findings of others.

The case study method also incorporates the idea that students can learn from one another "by engaging with each other and with each other's ideas, by asserting something and then having it questioned, challenged and thrown back at them so that they can reflect on what they hear, and then refine what they say" (Boehrer 1990)

TYPES OF CASE STUDIES

Illustrative Case Studies Descriptive studies

Typically utilize one or two instances of an event to show what a situation is like.

Exploratory (or pilot) Case Studies Condensed case studies performed before

implementing a large-scale investigation.

Basic function is to help identify questions and select types of measurement prior to the main investigation.

TYPES OF CASE STUDIES

Cumulative Case Studies Serve to aggregate information from

several sites collected at different times.

Critical Instance Case Studies Examine one or more sites for either the

purpose of examining a situation of unique interest with little to no interest in generalizability, or to call into question or challenge a highly generalized or universal assertion.

IDENTIFYING A THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE

Individual Theories Focus primarily on the individual development,

cognitive behavior, personality, learning and disability, and interpersonal interactions of a particular subject.

Organizational Theories Focus on bureaucracies, institutions, organizational

structure, and functions, or excellence in organizational performance.

Social Theories Focus on urban development, group behavior,

cultural institutions, or marketplace functions.

DESIGNING A CASE STUDY

Research design is the string of logic that ultimately links the data to be collected and the conclusions to be drawn into the initial questions of the study.

Research designs deal with at least four problems: What questions to study

What data are relevant

What data to collect

How to analyze that data

DESIGNING A CASE STUDY

Robert K. Yin (president of COSMOS Corporation, an applied research and social firm) offers five basic components of a research design: A study's questions.

A study's propositions (if any).

A study's units of analysis.

The logic linking of the data to the propositions.

The criteria for interpreting the findings.

Yin also stresses the importance of clearly articulating one's theoretical perspective, determining the goals of the study, selecting one's subject(s), selecting the appropriate method(s) of collecting data, and providing some considerations to the composition of the final report.

CONDUCTING CASE STUDIES

Single or Multi-modal Approach To obtain as complete a picture of the

participant as possible, case study researchers can employ a variety of methods.

Participant Selection Case studies can use one participant, or a

small group of participants.

“Case History”

CONDUCTING CASE STUDIES

Data Collection There are six types of data collected in

case studies: Documents

Archival records

Interviews

Direct observation

Participant observation

Artifacts

CONDUCTING CASE STUDIES

In the field of composition research, these six sources might be: A writer’s drafts

School records of student writers

Transcripts of interviews with a writer

Transcripts of conversations between writers (and protocols)

Videotapes and notes from direct field observations

Hard copies of a writer’s work on computer.

CONDUCTING CASE STUDIES

DATA ANALYSIS As the information is collected, researchers

strive to make sense of their data.

Generally, researchers interpret their data in one of two ways: holistically or through coding.

Holistic analysis does not attempt to break the evidence into parts, but rather to draw conclusions based on the text as a whole.

Through Coding: researchers systematically search data to identify and/or categorize specific observable actions or characteristics.

CONDUCTING CASE STUDIES

Sharan Merriam (1988) suggests seven analytic frameworks for the organization and presentation of data: The role of participants

The network analysis of formal and informal exchanges among groups

Historical

Thematical

Resources

Ritual and symbolism

Critical incidents that challenge or reinforce fundamental beliefs, practices, and values

There are two purposes of these frameworks: to look for patterns among the data and to look for patterns that give meaning to the case study.

COMPOSING THE CASE STUDY REPORT

In the many forms it can take, "a case study is generically a story; it presents the concrete narrative detail of actual, or at least realistic events, it has a plot, exposition, characters, and sometimes even dialogue" (Boehrer 1990).

Typically, authors address each step of the research process, and attempt to give the reader as much context as possible for the decisions made in the research design and for the conclusions drawn.

For more information:

http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/research/casestudy/index.cfm